1930s and 1940s: The Japanese occupied China Full war erupted in 1945 in Beijing between the Chinese and Japanese. After the war, civil war breaks out and Communists take over the government in 1949, led by Mao Zedong.

Today: In 1989, a pro-democracy demonstration by Chinese university students IN Beijing's Tiananmen Square is put down by the Communist government While a 1993 constitutional revision does not reform the political system, it does call for the development of a socialist market economy.

1930s and 1940s: Various religions thrived IN China, particularly Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.

Today: Once discouraged by Mao Zedong, religious practice has been revived to some degree In addition to the traditional religions-Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism-there are also smaller groups of Muslims, Catholics, and Protestants.

1930s and 1940s: After a period from 1882 to 1943 that restricted Chinese imm1gration to the U.S., a new 1943 law extends citizenship rights and permits...